Chapter 50: Chapter 50

Vadik

Dimitri’s house—or should I say his father’s house—is much the same as it was when we came over as kids, when our fathers used to do business together and our families gathered for holidays and such.

Strange, to think that the man I’m ready to sacrifice anything for to get him off this earth was once a childhood friend.

Not that my brothers and I liked him much when we were kids. He was a spoiled, pain in the ass, whiny boy, and we teased him mercilessly. Maybe it’s no wonder we grew up to hate each other.

But the hate, the hard-core part of it, anyway, didn’t really start until his father died and left his share of the club to Papa, completely overlooking and passing over Dimitri. The humiliation he experienced when that happened turned someone already prone to bitterness and animosity into a monster of epic proportions. He went from being merely annoying to unbearable, unwilling or unable to accept that his father didn’t leave him the club because he was sure he’d only run it into the ground.

The truth hurts, sometimes so much that we tell ourselves lies about it.

So Dimitri chose to believe our father stole the club out from under him, rather than what was clearly written in his father’s will in plain black and white—that Dimitri was bequeathed all the other less consequential family businesses, just not the club that our fathers founded together. The fact that everyone in our world knew what happened and why, heightened Dimitri’s humiliation, and his anger eventually pushed him over the edge. When it comes down to it, the man really just flat out lost his shit. It’s not uncommon for men in our world to become unhinged, but the natural order of things, because these men are so volatile and unpredictable, dictates that their days are numbered. They are just too much of a risk to keep around.

We let him come around the club though, in the spirit of temporarily keeping the peace. Turned out that even that charitable gesture bit us in the ass, something that seldom happens because we see most shit coming our way well before it reaches us.

Bottom line is, the man is no end of trouble, has been for a long time, and the end that is coming his way is inevitable and well-deserved. It aways has been, even going back to before his father died.

Maybe his father knew and that’s why he didn’t leave him the club.

But none of that is my problem, at least it won’t be for much longer. Today, Kir and I—while Niko waits for Charleigh the stowaway to get a ride back to the compound—are inside Dimitri’s house looking for some hidden room to see if it might get us closer to the bastard, or at least closer to proving he murdered our parents.

What might it hold that no other room does? I have no freaking idea, except for the hunch that I’m going on.

Papa taught me to listen to my hunches. They may not always be accurate, he said, but they are there for a reason.

Problem is, my hunch is also telling me we might have made a mistake coming here today, even though our advance team assured us the coast was clear.

Kir and I are quiet. Actually, more than quiet. Years of practice allows us to enter just about any place undetected. But, guns drawn, we move through the familiar house, and in the reflection of a window, I see the butt of another gun waiting for my brother and me to round the corner. I stop in my tracks and with a minuscule shake of my head, Kir understands we’re not alone.

From where we stand, I watch the gun move, as well as the man holding it, probably some hired lackey who doesn’t get paid enough for the shitty risks he has to take to put food on the table. But that’s not my problem right now.

Staying alive is.

While we have this guy in our sights, the advantage is ours because he is unaware that we do. The question is, are there others?

There most likely are.

A place like this would never be guarded by only one guy.

I’m not pleased our advance team didn’t pick up on the fact that there were men waiting here for us, ready to ambush. But again, that is something I will have to deal with later.

I could take out the man approaching us right now, and that would be the end of him, but that would also give away our position to anyone else in the house. I’m not usually one to hesitate—neither is my brother Kir—but we need to weigh the risks we’re facing.

I mouth Niko to Kir, and he nods, holstering his gun and grabbing his phone to send a text. He’s done in under fifteen seconds, weapon back in hand, and I feel much better that Niko knows what we are facing inside.

I just don’t know if Charleigh has gone back to the compound yet. If not, I’m not so sure I want him to leave her alone.

But the options swirling in my head force action when the gunman we’re watching begins to round the corner. Before he can even register my brother and me waiting for him, a gun fires. The man’s eyes widen in surprise as his body arcs forward. He stumbles, then falls to his knees, and I kick the gun out of his hand beyond his reach.

Kir covers me while I do this, and when the man falls, I can see behind him, explaining where the shot came from.

Behind him, at the end of the hallway, is Charleigh, pistol drawn, standing in perfect shooting posture.

Holy shit.

She has a lot of explaining to do.

********

Vadik

Niko steps from behind her.

I’m going to kill him. He may be my brother but I’m going to kill him, letting Charleigh take the first shot when Kir and I were pretty much sitting ducks?

“C’mon. We’ve gotta get out of here,” he says. “There are others on the way.”

We look outside and when the coast looks clear, sprint to the SUV and take off. Barely a word is uttered until we return to the compound, aside from Niko taking Charleigh’s gun away from her.

We pull into the drive in front of the house and I jam the car into park. I am out of my mind furious and before we even reach the front door, I explode.

“I’d like to know what the fuck happened back there,” I say, glaring at Niko and Charleigh.

My fists are balled so tightly it’s like my fingers are breaking. Despite the pain, I can’t force them to relax.

Kir puts a hand on my back. “Hey, let’s all go inside. We’ll talk in the library.”

Without a word, I storm into the house, the others following. I head straight to the bar cart, pour myself a scotch even though it’s still early morning, and realize as soon as I get a whiff of it, it’s the last thing I want right now. My stomach flips, and I can taste bile in my throat, and then, without even thinking about it, I heave the glass against the wood paneled wall, sending booze and slivers of glass all over.

Niko and Kir stand there, staring at me like they are daring me to do it again. They’re pissed at my tantrum.

Charleigh, however, vacillates between bravery and terror.

I pace the room a few times, trying to get my shit together. It’s not working.

“What the fuck was that?” I holler.

Niko raises his hands as if that’s going to help me calm down, then drops them and shakes his head.

Yeah, I’m hopeless when I’m like this. I know it. We all know it. I have to work through it.

“Now, Vad, you might think letting Charleigh take that guy down was some sort of rash decision, but it wasn’t. Look, you don’t know this, but I’ve been training her myself. I knew she could do it, so that’s why I let her. When the security guy came to take her away, I decided she didn’t need to go.”

Charleigh looks up from the club chair she settled into, her chin high. “Vadik, I’m ready, and I just proved that to you. If Niko hadn’t given me the chance, I never would have been able to show you.”

“Bullshit,” I yell. “It might have been a calculated risk, but there was no reason to take one to begin with. Kir and I could have been killed.”

“But you weren’t. You weren’t because I was there, acting as part of the team. I knew I could take that guy out and any other guys there. It’s what I’ve been training for, Vadik.”

Her soft voice helps my anger ebb, but only a little. Am I angry because I’m afraid Charleigh won’t need me anymore? That she’s taking away my ability to die defending her because she can fend for herself now?

Am I more worried about the danger all this poses to Charleigh herself than any of the three of us?

Goddamn, this is all so fucked.

I take a seat in the corner and drop my head into my hands. Fuck, I am so not in the mood for one of my migraines. I fish into my pocket for a pill and swallow it without water.

Tastes like shit.

I look up to see Charleigh standing over me and when she places a hand on my shoulder, my own immediately goes to hers as if she might transfer some peace to me.

Her fingers are small but warm, and I bring her hand to my lips for a kiss. Her skin is soft and smells fresh, lightly scented as if from simple drugstore hand lotion. It’s one of the things I like best about her. She doesn’t try too hard to be attractive, in fact, she barely makes any effort at all, which makes her all the more appealing. She’s so incredibly different from the usual tarted-up women I cross paths with.

Keeping this woman alive has not been an easy feat. Our rivals have found a chink in our armor, our affection for this woman, and they are exploiting it every way they can. If she’s to remain a part of our lives, which I hope to God she is, she needs to be able to defend herself.

And today she proved she can.

Then why am I so tweaked about it? I want her safe, and I want her to be able to keep herself safe.

Guess that means she might not need me quite as much as she has, and that has me feeling a little bitch-ass apprehensive.

Which I don’t like. Not at all.

I don’t get worked up over women, even the ones I’m fucking.

At least I never have.

Charleigh stands before me in her jeans and sneakers looking for all the world like a queen, my queen, a Bratva queen, and an Alekseev queen. She stills my rage while stoking my fire, if that makes sense at all, and as soon as I put my hands on her hips to pull her to me, rubbing my rough thumbs over her hipbones, my cock jumps to attention.

I’ve let Charleigh have some space these recent weeks, just like my brothers have. We’ve followed her lead, let her come to us for her sensual needs, always ready to help her heal in any way we can.

And today she’s doing the same for me.

I open her jeans, and pulling them just below her ass, reach into the tight space between her legs. I run a finger through her bare pussy lips, and it comes back coated with her excitement. I taste her and it’s good, so good I know I want more, I need more, I have to have more.

My brothers settle into chairs to watch as I lay Charleigh back on the thick rug below us. Flipping her over, I keep her jeans around her thighs, binding her legs tightly together. Her movement is restricted and yet she still wags her behind, offering herself to me, while I pull my trousers off and toss them aside. Straddling her ass, I push into the snug space where her thighs meet, and slide in and out of that void, teasing us both to the point where we can’t take it any longer.

With her legs pressed together, I enter her and am immediately enveloped with her slick, heavenly heat, her pussy grabbing for my cock like a hungry little bird begging for all I have to give.

Beneath me, Charleigh slaps and bangs her hands on the rug under her, arching her neck, and throwing her hair around in response to my drilling. She manages to push one hand beneath herself to play with her clit, and I drive in and out of her faster, matching her groans, when she clamps down on me and comes, her cheek pressed to the rug, her lips parted, and her eyes only partially open.

“Yes, Vad, please fuck me,” she pleads as another orgasm rolls over her.

I let her finish and then pull out because I don’t want to come yet. I drag some of her moisture up to her asshole, spreading it around, and massaging her tight opening. She immediately moans and pushes back against me so I push a finger inside her and her breathing quickens and I know another orgasm is on the way for her.

I withdraw my finger, replacing it with my cock, and pop the head inside her ass. She squeals at first, unused to the stretch, and after a moment pushes back into me, accepting more of my hard dick in her cute little bum. Pretty soon I’m fully seated inside her, riding her with one knee on either side of her hips. I lower myself onto her back and wrap my arms around her, turning her head to I can kiss the side of her face while I’m pounding her. She screams and begs for me to fuck her harder and I do until I can’t anymore, and empty my load in her ass.

I realize my brothers have joined us on the floor for a better view and when I finally pull out and flip her to her back so I can see her pretty face, Niko has brought her a warm washcloth. He begins to clean her, scooping her languid body into his arms, and I hear her murmuring something.

“What is it, darlin’? What did you say?”

She opens her eyes fully. “I love you. I said I love you. Each of you. All of you.”

A smile grows across Niko’s face, which doesn’t surprise me because he was the first of the three of us to fall in love with Charleigh.

“I love you too, baby,” Kir says, bending to kiss her forehead.

I didn’t think I’d ever see the day when he could find love with another woman after losing his Clara, and I’m happy for him, really happy.

As for me, I don’t say anything, and Charleigh smiles at me anyway. I don’t have to say it, because she knows what I’m thinking and feeling, and all the words in the world can’t make life any sweeter than it is at this very moment.